He then served in various minor roles in the Conservative governments of the 1920s and '30s. From 1922 till 1924 he served as the civil lord of the Admiralty, becoming chairman of the Unionist Party Organization in 1924 for two years. He also served as President of the Navy League from 1924 until 1931. He was chairman of the Medical Research Council and of the governing body of the Imperial College London. Linlithgow was also chairman of the committee on the distribution and prices of agricultural produce and president of the Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture until 1933. In 1926 he was Chairman of the Royal Commission on Agriculture in India, which published its findings in 1928.[3] Influenced by submissions to the Royal Commission, "a decade later, when (he) became Viceroy of India he showed a personal interest in nutrition, pushing it to the top of the research agenda".[4] In the 1930s he was also chairman of the select committee on Indian constitutional reform.

With the outbreak of the Second World War, Linlithgow's appeal for unity[citation needed] led to the resignation of the Congress ministries. On 8 August 1940 Lord Linlithgow made a statement on behalf of the British government. It was known as the August Offer and offered greater rights in the governance of India to the Indian people. The proposal was rejected by most Indian politicians, including the Congress Party and the Muslim League. Disputes between the British administration and Congress ultimately led to massive Indian civil disobedience in the Quit India Movement in 1942. Linlithgow suppressed the disturbances and arrested the Congress leaders. He is partly blamed for the Bengal famine of 1943.[6]

He retired in 1943, his seven-year tenure as Viceroy having been the longest in the history of the Raj. He was considered by his British obituarists to have been one of the most skillful colonial officers to have held the highest office.

Indians were less kind in their assessments of his career. VP Menon in The Transfer of Power in India stated, "His 7½ year regime -- longer than that of any other Viceroy -- was conspicuous by its lack of positive achievement. When he left India, famine stalked portions of the countryside. There was economic distress due to the rising cost of living and the shortage of essential commodities. On the political side, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru expressed the general feeling thus: ' Today, I say, after seven years of Lord Linlithgow's administration the country is much more divided than it was when he came here'."

1 Following the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny. 2 As representatives of George VI in his role as King of India (1947–50). 3 As representatives of George VI and then Elizabeth II in their roles as King and Queen of Pakistan, respectively.